Ocean Park & Macau

Hong Kong IPO
Friday May 12, 2006
Another amazing day in Hong Kong! We began with a trip to Ocean Park (one of 3 parks in Hong Kong). Ocean Park, an attraction park that houses many of the local marine animals and a variety of rides, including a big attraction of World's second longest escalator at almost 2000 ft(the longest is in Central, Hong, Kong) and the Atoll Reef exhibit. We went with our friend Heidi and had the amazing time just learning the about the marine animals that make up most of the South China Sea. Another (notice Jaws- this is why we swam in the pool and not in the ocean. ha ha) main attraction is a 6 mile journey in a cable car along the coast of the South China Sea. You can see in the backgroudn Repluse Bay an exclusive resort area for many tourist and second homes for the rich. Justin, has decided to give up the 40 ft boat and trade up for a 150 ft. yacht (oh! the life of the Rich and Famous)!

After Ocean Park we embarked from the International Terminal in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong for an hour boat ride to Macau. The Hydro Foil style boat is made by Boeing, and is similar, to Hovercraft. When docked the boats sits down in the water, but while moving it raises up out of the water and moves a very high speeds. Macau, once a colony of Portugal (the oldest European colony - since the 16th century) was officially turned over to China in 1999, and is similar to HK by being a Special Administrative Region (SARs). You may have heard of Macau in the news recently. Macau, is known as the "Vegas of the East". Macau, has grown more in 5 years (population, revenue, etc.) than Las Vegas did from 1950-2003. Here the wealthiest from Japan, China, Tawian, Hong Kong come for days to spend thousands a day on gambling. We did our fair share to lose a couple Macau dollars, but maintained control. We noticed the Chinese take gambling very seriously and will play for hours. The main game here is Bacarat and takes up more space than slot machines. Another difference, there is no free drinks, in fact they don't even drink while gambling! Aside, from gambling Macau has undergone some astonishing construction over the past few years including large casinos, a small scale version of the Colleseum (Rome), Volcano's, and streetscapes from early 19th century. Many of the wealthy have homes in the hills of Macau. We dined on the boardwalk by the South China Sea with an outside band and finished the evening with a boat ride back to Hong Kong. I would say this is a must see for anyone headed to China, and for those investors out there look up companies in Macau (here's some free advice...names like Sands, Wynn, and Venetian).